Ok, so I was looking at getting one of the Tales Of PS3 games for Christmas. Having never played one before I don't know which one to get. Its between these three:

Tales of Xillia

Tales of Graces f

Tales of Symphonia Chronicles

So which one did you prefer? Are there any major differences apart from storyline? Other suggestions are welcome, such as Star Ocean: The last Hope. 

I enjoyed Tales of Graces F the most.

Never ended up finishing Tales of Xilia though and considering it has a sequal that could make it more appealing as well.

But I liked the combat system in Graces F the best. Xilia went back to the way Tales games normally control in combat.

Persona 4 Golden

Has to be on PS3. Already have Persona 4. Game of the generation?

My vote is Tales of Xillia

Tales of Symphonia is the best out of the three, but it might have not aged as well for new fan. Xillia would be my second pick.

Tales of Symphonia is the best of the bunch. It holds up extremely well still today and plays extremely well.

The sequal is not very good though.

Second i would recommend Tales of Xillia. The combat system is also good, but the story and characters are not as good. Its not a bad game in any way, but it doesnt flow as well as past games in the series. The lack of traversable world map is always a minus on my book.

Tales of graces f was trash to me. Boring slow story and uninteresting characters. It also felt incredibly childish. I think the tales team was aiming at a younger audience with that one (also with it beeing targeted at the Wii).

Valkiria Chronicles or Resonance of Fate.

Dark Souls II

Tales of Graces F. Avoid the other garbage you listed.